Bitcoin BTCUSD recorded one of its strongest quarters in the past three years in Q1, but analysts warn this could lead to significant volatility in the lead-up to the Bitcoin halving.
"Be prepared for some screwy price action as we head into the halving," crypto analyst Phoenix Desmond told his 11,700 X followers in a post on April 3.
Bitcoin experienced a 64% price increase during the first quarter of 2024-Jan. 1 to March 31 its third-best quarter over the past three years.At the beginning of the quarter, it stood at $44,172 on Jan. 1, and by the quarter's end, it had reached $71,255.
However, Desmond argues that the consistent pattern of outperforming price performance in weekly and monthly closings signals unprecedented market conditions.
"Never before have we seen such a strong weekly, monthly, and quarterly close above previous ATH only to retrace so far so fast," Desmond declared.
In the last two weekly closes, on March 17 and March 31, Bitcoin surged by 6.09%, climbing from $67,234 to $71,333, as per Yahoo Finance data.
The Bitcoin halving is just 16 days away set to happen on April 20 and is stirring speculation it could trigger further upward movement in the second quarter of 2024, due to the expected supply shock.
However, investor sentiment regarding the short-term direction of Bitcoin's price seems to be rather neutral.
Over the past 24 hours, liquidations on both short and long positions remained fairly balanced, at $16.27 million and $16.77 million respectively, as per CoinGlass data.
